Today on Long Island, NYSUT President Melinda Person joined Gov. Kathy Hochul as the governor announced a proposal to provide universal school meals across New York.
The initiative, part of Hochul’s 2025 State of the State agenda, would cover free breakfast and lunch for every one of New York’s 2.7 million students if approved by the state Legislature.
Universal school meals is a key element of NYSUT’s One-in-Five campaign to combat childhood poverty and the barriers poverty creates to learning. Educators know that students cannot learn when they are hungry, and meeting their basic needs is vital to unlocking their potential.
“Every day in our schools, educators see hungry children who would likely qualify for existing free meal programs but fall through the cracks due to stigma or bureaucracy,” Person said. “Nearly one in six New York children faces food insecurity, and this critical initiative to provide universal free meals for all students — regardless of their ZIP code or family income — will reduce food anxiety, improve mental and physical health, and support students’ ability to thrive.”
In 2023, expansions in eligibility at the federal level and state budget subsidies expanded the number of students who could take part in free school meals. But in New York roughly 300,000 students still do not qualify for the program.
The governor’s proposal would cover the cost of meals to include those remaining students.
Currently eight other states offer universal school meals — California, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont, Michigan, and Massachusetts.
Studies of these programs have shown increases in student readiness to learn, decreases in visible income disparities among students, improved social climate in schools and visible relief from financial stress among families and school administrators.
When every student has access to free breakfast and lunch, it removes the stigma that so many students feel when they have to stand in a separate line or when their family’s financial struggles are laid bare in the cafeteria.
Hochul says school meals are estimated to save New York families $165 per child in grocery spending each month.
“Every child, no matter their circumstances, deserves the nutrition they need to grow and learn,” Person said.
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